Al-Qaida
Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s video tape announcing the outfit’s India wing is
anti-Muslim and a mischievous act. The Vice Chancellor Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani reasserted
that Indian Muslims are non-violent and they love their country. They will
never be persuaded by a terrorist group. Reacting to the video message from the
al-Qaeda announcing the creation of its branch in the Indian subcontinent,
Mufti Nomani said, “Islam is a non-violent religion which talks about
propagating peace across the world. Followers of this peaceful religion would
never buy arguments of the terrorist groups.”

He
emphasized that the Indian Muslims have firm believe in the Indian secular constitution
and the judiciary; therefore such provocations may not attract the attention of
Indian Muslims. But, he expressed concern that Ayman al-Zawahiri’s new video
tape can adversely affect the Indian Muslims and the communal forces in the
country can seize this opportunity to spit venom against Muslims. The VC feared
that the move may cause arrest of innocent Muslims in false terror cases as
numerous Muslim youths were previously subjected to torture and imprisonment on
the account of being a member of so-called SIMI or Indian Mujahidin.

Mufti
Nomani also cited to the anti-terrorism fatwa issued by Darul Uloom and the
All-India Anti-Terrorism Conference held in Feb 2008 which was applauded in the
national and international media.

The
Vice Chancellor urged the government, intelligence agencies and the media to fairly
investigate the truth behind the video tape. According to him, it may be part
of the conspiracies hatched against Indian Muslims in order to incriminate
them.